Loose Stools, Vomiting, in excess of one month!

[Stella Luna]

Please help me! Stella has been suffering from urgent diarreah (accidents...too many to count), vomiting at night and lack of appetite. The vet ran blood tests and two fecal tests and found nothing. She is on a bland diet consisting of rice, boiled chicken or beef, yougurt (for a small treat), eggs, etc. She is losing weight on this diet, and it seems to make her constipated. I know dairy causes constipation, so we try to keep that to a minimum. We went back to her old food and now it gives her the diarreah again. She is on an intestinal antibiotic for any parasites she may have. It is just this horrible cycle she is on and cannot get rid of it. She is especially interested in grass this year. Does this sound like a food allergy? She is on Iams adult, mixture of dry and wet. I have heard of a sickness that some boxers get, it sounds really obvious like boxer-itis or something like that. Could it be that? Any thoughts?

 

[Angels Mama]

IMO this does sound like a food allergy. If there were two fecals done and there was no sign of parasites, and blood work didn't show anything.....? IAMS is not a high quality food. There are GREAT posts on this website about the different foods, and what ones are low & high quality. I'm sure one of the other members can direct you to these particular posts. I hope your baby starts to feel better soon!!! Good Luck!

 

[KonaKoffe]

Antibiotics generally cause loose stool. The yogurt will help to rebalance the intestines while on the antibiotics. Give about 1/4 cup per day and continue 2 weeks afther the completion of the antibiotics.The plain cooked white rice is used to help bind the stool and help prevent dehydration.

Skip the eggs and dairy and other extras for now.

For now I would just feed the rice and chicken (skinless and boiled) and yogurt. About 50/50 with the chicken and rice. If she is loosing weight feed as much as she will eat.

If you went back to the old diet to fast that can also cause diarrhea.

 

[KonaKoffe]

Give the yogurt about 2 hours after the pills or else the antibiotics will just kill the healthy bacteria in the yogurt and be counter productive.


How long has she been on the antibiotics?

what kind of antibiotics is she on? ( name)

 

[KonaKoffe]

This actually sounds like her intestinal system is screwed up from the medication and rapid diet changes. Especially since the tests found nothing.

I would finish out the antibiotics and not re-medicate with anything unless the vet is sure there is something there that requires medication. She needs a break and a chance to let her intestines get back to a normal balance after antibiotics and back on a normal diet.

If the vet can not give you any definite reason for her problems than I would suggest getting a second opinion.

Also any diet changes need to be done gradually over a week or two or diarrhea will most likely occur.

 

[Stella Luna]

Not sure on the name of the antibiotics. I can check when I get home from work. I realize that antibiotics and diet change give dogs loose stools. Just can't figure out why it started in the first place. And by the way, even when she was on her bland diet, she still had very soft stools. In all, I think I am going to shop for a new dog food. Once she went back on the Iams, she was back to the diarreah. Good point about the yogurt. Do you think she should be on any vitamin supplements while on this bland diet? I feel as though she is not getting much with rice and chicken.

 

[Nellie'sMama]

Nellie has had this same problem, and she went to the vet yesterday and we got the same results. They did bloodwork and fecal exams, and came up with nothing. They also put her on an antibiotic and told me to feed her the bland diet for a couple of days, then start slowly introducing her kibble back to her food. Nellie had been eating Merrick's Grammy's Pot Pie (which I think Merrick is an excellent food, but the Grammy's Pot Pie didn't agree with my baby) and started getting diarrhea, so I was in the process of gradually changing her over to California Natural Lamb & Rice when I decided to take her to the vet to see if it was something more serious. Nellie wasn't vomiting, but she had lost her appetite, which is so unlike her, and had diarrhea. She's been on the bland diet for about 24 hours now, and her stool is definitely firmer, and I'm just hoping it stays that way when I give her kibble again!!